


we could pretend it all the time

by zayndehaan



Category: Social Network (2010)
Genre: Harvard-era, M/M, Moving In Together
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 09:55:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zayndehaan/pseuds/zayndehaan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A present for <a href="http://bloovanmeer.tumblr.com/">Bloo</a>! Merry Christmas!</p><p>Prompt: <i>Um… Mark/Wardo, Mark accidentally gets locked out of his dorm at Harvard and Wardo lets him stay with him. Mark just… doesn’t leave. You are genuinely awesome for doing this</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	we could pretend it all the time

The first time it happens, it happens for a good reason.

Mark raps on the door loudly. A girl down the hallway turns to look, and Mark has to physically restrain himself from giving her the finger. This is not the way he'd wanted to spend his Thursday night, he thinks bitterly. Chris and Dustin are probably still inside Kirkland, and were just doing something so loud that they couldn't hear him. Like playing Call of Duty. Or having sex.

Whatever the case, Mark had knocked for fifteen minutes, eventually kicking the door so hard that he bruised his toe (which was not a pretty sight in sandals), and then given up and went to Eduardo's dorm.

He won't stay for long, he tells himself. He'll just ask to use Eduardo's phone, because his own is, of course, at home (Murphy's law), and then leave the Brazilian student to doing whatever business students did in their spare time during breaks.

Wardo opens the door, and stares at Mark for a strange moment before blinking a couple times and then beaming the full Saverin grin at him. "Hey, Mark! What's up?"

"I got locked out," Mark says plainly. "Can I use your phone?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Wardo replies, sounding distracted. He moves aside so that Mark can go past him, into Wardo's dorm room. It's spacious, and it's furnished better than Mark's is. Mark has been here before, of course, but he's never stayed for more than a couple hours. Eduardo hands him the phone, and Mark dials Chris.

"Heeey," Moskovitz's voice slurs out into the phone. Mark hears Chris ask, voice also slurred, in the background, "Who is it?", and Dustin replies, "It's Eduardo."

"It's Mark," Mark corrects, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice. "I got locked out. You guys didn't answer."

"Oh..." Dustin sounds put out. "You... got locked out of Kirkland? Mark, we didn't answer 'cause we're in Cancuuuun."

" _What_ ," Mark deadpans, gritting his teeth. Wardo looks concerned, and picks up a notepad, scribbling down "are they okay?"

Mark takes the pen from him, and scribbles back "they're morons" before Chris says, "It's spring break, Mark! We told you we were going to _Mehico_!" Mark hears a cheer from Dustin.

"I assumed you were kidding," Mark states, expression growing pained.

"You can go ask administration for a key, Mark," Chris says, still somehow managing to have the brightest ideas even while piss-drunk. Dustin chimes in, "Hey, Marky Mark, why are you using Wardo's phone?"

"Thanks, Chris," Mark says, ignoring Dustin's question. "Bye, assholes." He hangs up, scoffing.

"Where are they?" Wardo asks with concern, and Mark turns to him.

"They're in Mexico, on spring break."

The expression on the Brazilian boy's face melts into a smile, and he says happily, "Oh! They left already?"

"Yeah," Mark shrugs. "I guess they did. Which means I'm locked out of my dorm. Chris told me I can go talk to the Harvard University Housing guys--"

"No, no no no," Wardo cuts him off, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You can stay here for the night!"

Mark tries not to think about sleeping in Wardo's apartment, and instead contradicts, "No, I can't, I- I wouldn't want to impose."

"Since when do you care about being polite?" Wardo asks, and, well, yeah, he's got a point. "And besides, their office hours are 8 to 4:30. They closed a long time ago."

"Fuck," Mark says under his breath, and he feels the weight of Wardo's hand on his shoulder pressing down through his hoodie. He takes a moment to consider his options, and then sighs. "Okay. Fine. If it's no problem, I'll stay here tonight."

"It's no problem," Wardo exclaims. He is practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, and Mark is close to becoming blind from the pure sunshine that is emanating from Wardo's shit-eating grin. How could _anyone_ possibly be that excited about _anyone_ coming to stay the night, let alone Mark Zuckerberg? Wardo continues, "it's not like I had any other plans for tonight! This is gonna be fun. Want to watch a movie or something?"

"I kind of wanted to code," Mark admits, but then he remembers that his laptop is back in his suite. His blog will have to remain un-updated for tonight. "But sure. Let's watch a movie."

"Okay!" Wardo pulls out a box of DVDs and VHSs, and raises an eyebrow at Mark. "What are you in the mood for?"

"Uh, _Die Hard_?" Mark says, listing off the first movie title he can read in the box.

"Cool," Wardo shrugs. He puts in the movie, and then walks over to the couch and plops himself down next to Mark. The couch is small, Mark muses, but there's absolutely no reason for Wardo to sit that close to him. The thought brings a small smile to Mark's face, and he settles into the couch (and maybe into Wardo's side a little bit. The other boy doesn't mention it.)

After a full movie of Bruce Willis being, Wardo has somehow shifted closer to Mark, and Mark can feel the heat of the business student's leg pressed up against his. The curly-haired boy blinks, and stares at the collar of Wardo's shirt, a strange sensation taking over him.

"So where do you want to sleep?" Wardo asks, and Mark's eyes snap up to meet his guiltily.

"Uh. Anywhere. The couch?"

"Works for me," Wardo says, shrugging. He peels himself off of the couch (and Mark), and stands up, rubbing at his eyes beleagueredly. "Night, Mark!"

"Good night," Mark replies, smiling briefly and politely at Wardo before rolling over on the couch to face the cushion side. He closes his eyes, and settles into the couch, when suddenly a blanket is thrown over him. Mark blinks, and then turns, looking over his shoulder.

Wardo's retreating back repeats, "Night, Mark," and it's a little scolding but very affectionate, and Mark feels a real smile take over his features. He burrows back down into the couch, and has wonderfully vague dreams the whole night through.

-

Mark wakes up at 9:00 the next morning out of habit, and tenses before he remembers where he is and that he doesn't have class right now. He rolls over, attempting to move onto his back, and falls off of the couch.

"Ow," he mutters, and then he hears a faint laugh. Wardo is watching him from the kitchen, a soft smile on his face.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

"It's _nine_ ," Mark contradicts him loudly. "We're supposed to be on spring break."

"I made eggs and toast," Wardo says, and Mark's head perks up from his awkward position on the floor.

"Thanks," Mark replies, and a strange sense of calm falls over him. As if this is where he's supposed to be, on his second morning of spring break. In Eduardo's dorm room, lying on the ground, listening to eggs frying in the pan. It feels sort of natural to wake up at Wardo's.

-

The next time it happens, Mark has no excuse.

He comes back to Wardo's apartment that night, holding a key, his laptop, and a duffel bag with some blankets, clothes, and a toothbrush. Wardo opens the door, and raises an eyebrow.

"So they gave you a new key? You got back into your place okay?"

"Yes," Mark answers, staring off into the distance disdainfully, as if Wardo called him over, or someone is forcing him to be here. "They did."

"Want to stay here again?" Wardo asks, quirking a grin.

"If it's no problem," Mark echoes himself from yesterday. Wardo moves aside, a knowing expression on his face.

-

It happens again the next night, and again the night after that. Mark brings more and more stuff over every night, and Wardo doesn't ever complain or mention it, but on the fourth night there is an extra dresser in the living room, next to the TV cabinet. Mark puts his clothes in there, and his toothbrush beside Wardo's in the bathroom, and it would all feel so horribly fucking domestic if it didn't still feel so natural.

Chris and Dustin get back from their trip to Cancun, and are respectively delighted and dismayed that Mark is no longer living with them. Chris cleans up what stuff Mark has left in the old suite, and Dustin delivers several original sonnets entreating Mark to return to his old home (most of them sung to the tune of Disney songs), and both of them tease Mark relentlessly about the fact that he has _moved in with Eduardo_ , which Wardo and Mark remain unbothered about entirely.

In the end, Mark considers himself lucky that he got locked out of his room on the first night.

-

One night, a good month after Mark first moved in, Wardo kicks the door to his room open suddenly, and Mark looks up from the couch worriedly. "What? What's wrong?"

"Mark, jesus, take a hint," Wardo grumbles, apparently to himself, and then gestures to his room. "You really wanna stay on that couch forever?"

Mark sucks in his lower lip, and gets up, following Wardo. "You sure this is all right?" he asks, even though he can hardly hear his own voice over the sound of his heartbeat in his chest beating out the word "forever" over and over and over again.

"Positive," Wardo says, and Mark lies down on the bed. Wardo lies next to him, pulling the blanket over both of them, and Mark listens to the sound of the Brazilian boy's breathing slowing down as he falls into sleep. He reaches out under the blankets, and finds Wardo's hand, squeezing it softly.

Wardo squeezes back almost instantly, and Mark freezes as he realizes Wardo's still awake. The blankets shift as Wardo moves himself so he's closer to Mark, a lot closer, and they keep holding hands until they fall asleep that night.

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Jack Johnson's Banana Pancakes which is the official theme song of this fic everybody go listen to it now
> 
> Happy holidays everyone :)


End file.
